Viral tweet spreads misinformation about volcanoes and climate change

[groundloop]

Source: CBS News


This week, a false claim about volcanoes posted on Twitter went viral. The tweet claimed that Tuesday's eruption of Mt. Merapi in Indonesia "spewed more CO2 than every car driven in history. Climate change is natural."

The tweet generated tremendous interest and engagement, with over 100,000 likes and millions of video views. But scientists say the claim is blatantly false.

"There are a billion cars on the planet today, and this volcano's emissions are tiny compared to their pollution. The statement is pants-on-fire false," says Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth System Science at Stanford University and chair of the Global Carbon Project, a collaboration that measures the various contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, in an average year all global volcanic activity releases a total of 0.13 to 0.44 gigatons of CO2 emissions. In the U.S. alone, in 2017, emissions from transportation from all on-road vehicles was 1.56 gigatons of CO2 equivalent. So, just in the U.S. in a single year, emissions from vehicles is five times greater than all global volcanoes.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-volcanoes-viral-tweet-spreads-misinformation/

[yaesu]

1. The fossil fuel industry, you know, the one we tax payers subsidize, are spreading this crap.nt

[mwooldri]

2. I thought a good volcanic eruption had some benefits for the climate.

It's the ash and other stuff that goes up in the air and blots out the sun to some extent - this cooling the earth a little bit. However all this stuff going up causes acid rain... not helping vegetation or animals...

Good article with actual science here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-volcanoes-affect-w/

[Polybius]

3. I'd love to see the stats from Mount Pinatubo in 1991

Volcano of the century.